Talos
: "Come on, how was I supposed to know that the whole thing was fake? I mean, that was all very, very convincing. The performances, the illusion, that costume, the craftsmanship and that, I mean this is just embarrassing for a shapeshifter." : ― Talos to Soren Talos is a Skrull General who had collaborated with Mar-Vell in order to save the remnants of his own people from the Kree Empire. As the war between the Skrulls and Kree progressed, Talos managed to extract information about the Light-Speed Engine from Carol Danvers and arrived on Planet C-53 to retrieve it. On C-53, Talos had confronted Vers and Nick Fury, while disguised as Keller, however, Talos' deception was soon exposed. Eventually, Talos helped Vers to realise that the Kree had been manipulating her as she had finally agreed to aid him, fighting the Starforce to find a new home for the surviving Skrulls, as well as his own family. In 2024, Talos and Soren were asked by Fury to travel to Earth and impersonate himself and Maria Hill, respectively, while Fury took a leave of absence and went on vacation on his flagship. In doing so, Talos took the command of Fury's tactical team and came into conflict with the rising global threat of the Elementals, and bargained an alliance with Quentin Beck and Spider-Man, before realising Beck's fraudulence. Biography Kree-Skrull War Fugitives from the Kree Talos, a General in the Skrull Empire, had been leading the losing side of the Kree-Skrull War ever since the destruction of their home planet Skrullos at the hands of the Kree Empire and the Accusers. By 1989, Talos brokered an alliance with rebel Kree scientist Mar-Vell, who offered Talos, his family and several other Skrull survivors refuge on her laboratory in the orbit of Planet C-53, while she would engineer a Light-Speed Engine to allow the Skrulls to escape Kree opposition. Unfortunately, as a result of Mar-Vell's assassination executed by Starforce commander Yon-Rogg, this put an indefinite hiatus into her research, and set back their opposition in the war. By 1995, a remnant of the Skrulls led by Talos, who had since abandoned Mar-Vell's laboratory and thus leaving his family behind for their safety, had sought refuge on Torfa. Ambushing the Starforce The Skrulls, led by Talos, had organised an ambush on Torfa with the objective of capturing Vers. On Torfa, Talos had successfully kidnapped Soh-Larr, a Kree spy, to find the coordinates for the laboratory, which had contained the Tesseract. They lured the Starforce members into the planet by impersonating Soh-Larr and using a code that only he would have known. The Starforce operatives quickly realised that the Torfan natives were Skrulls led by Talos. As most of the Skrulls were made quick work of by the Starforce, Talos remained in hiding as Soh-Larr. When Vers approached him, Talos revealed himself and abducted her, taking her to the Skrull flagship. Unlocking Memories The Skrulls hooked Vers to a machine that allows them to visualise scenes of her memories, from where they are able to uncover the alias that Mar-Vell used in planet C-53. Once Vers got back her consciousness, she escaped from the machine and promptly started attacking every single Skrull on site. Talos tried to stall her on her way to the Escape Pod, though his efforts were futile. Planet C-53 Crashing in Los Angeles The four pods carrying Talos, Norex, and two other Skrulls crash-landed in the Pacific Ocean, on the coast of California, and later emerged at a beach during a sun-sprawling morning in Los Angeles. While familiarising themselves with their surroundings, Talos gave orders to the three Skrulls under his command to locate Vers. To blend in with the rest of the beach, Talos and the Skrulls had simmed several human surfers. Infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D. During the Chase of the Skrulls, which resulted in the death of one of his fellow subordinates at the hands of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, Talos confronted and assumed the guise of S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Keller, in order to gain the trust of his situational enemies. Talos arrived at the autopsy of the deceased Skrull alongside S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Nick Fury, pretending to be as confused over the strange alien as Fury was to avoid any suspicion. Still motivated to capture Vers, he instructed Agent Fury to track her down and keep him updated, before sending him off. Once he was alone, Talos began mourning the death of his fellow Skrull and vowed to complete their mission. Later, Talos had been contacted by Fury via his Pager, who told him that Vers and him were at the Joint USAFA Facility in Nevada, where she was attempting find some more information regarding Doctor Wendy Lawson. Talos, as Keller, informed Fury that he and several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were coming to apprehend the threat. Arriving at the facility, Fury became suspicious of Talos when "Keller" referred to Fury by his first name when they boarded an elevator to hunt down Vers. Ambush at the Joint USAFA Facility During the elevator ride down, Fury became suspicious that "Keller" was compromised by a Skrull. Because of this, Fury tested Talos by asking if he remembers a strategy during a fictitious mission that he supposedly did with the real Keller in Havana. Talos, unable to determine if the mission was real or not since Skrulls can only remember recent memories from the people they replicate, said he remembered the fake mission, confirming Fury's suspicion. Talos soon realised that his cover was blown and attempted to kill Fury only to be stopped Vers, after which the two fled the facility. Frustrated by losing Vers and Fury, Talos took a moment, when he was interrupted by an agent who informed him about their process of locating the Quadjet, which Talos was confused on how they weren't able to do it quicker. He was then handed a file from Norex, who was also impersonating a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, on a crash that occurred six years ago that matched Vers' memories. Talos then asked if there was a record of the crash, which the agent informed him of a Black box that they had, which Talos instructed him to retrieve. Talos then looked at the files and discovered Maria Rambeau and her address, leading to him to head to the location. Negotiating an Agreement Talos and Norex tracked Vers to the Rambeau Residence, after she found out the truth about her real origins, about her being from Earth and previous Air Force pilot for Mar-Vell. At first Carol, Maria and Fury believed him to be there for evil intentions, Talos was able to convinced them that he was there to negation a peaceful deal and everybody calmed down. Once the negotiation is successful, restoring Carol Danvers' memories back to normal, Talos alongside Maria Rambeau and Nick Fury began to find Mar-Vell's hidden Laboratory ship at space nearby Earth, while Norex sacrificed his life as a decoy to diverse a distraction to lure the Starforce, by disguising as Danvers. With the distraction is success, at cost of Norex's life, Talos and his allies finally arrived at Mar-Vell’s hidden lab ship, reuniting with his family and the fellow surviving Skrulls hidden by Mar-Vell once more. Battle at Mar-Vell's Laboratory Unfortunately, the Starforce already called the reinforcements, including the Accusers, with Talos and his people, alongside Fury, Rambeau and Goose are held hostage, and being put in other cells respectively, while Danvers being put into having her memories wiped again. Thanks to Davers' fully awakened power which manage to resist the Supreme Intelligence's control, Talos manage to dispose one of the Starforce guards and disguise as one of them, once the cell he and his people were in are turned off by the results of Danvers' battle against the majorities of the Starforce. While disguised as a Kree foot soldier, Talos and his people reunited with Fury, Rambeau, and Goose, who too freed by the efforts of the latter. Although there are still few remaining Starforce guards remains. Once Talos begin to rescue his allies and was injured while risking his life-saving Fury from one of the remaining Starforce guards. Talos, while recovering, remaining the ship where he and his allies escaping, as Mar-Vell's ship is about to be destroyed. Upon landing back to the desert at Earth when once the majority of Kree army finally retreats because of Danvers' undefeatable power. Finding a New Home Once the battle was over, Talos and his family sought temporary refuge at the Rambeau Residence, joining them for dinner. Afterwards, Captain Marvel left to search the galaxy for a habitable planet for the Skrulls to live. Using the Light-Speed Engine, Talos and his family followed suit. Elemental Attacks Skirmish in Mexico In 2024, Talos and his wife Soren were called to Earth to impersonate Nick Fury and Maria Hill, while the latter two were away. Fury required Talos to act as himself to watch over Spider-Man, and ensure Parker received an item Tony Stark left for him. After the two arrived on Earth, and keeping with their aliases, they began an investigation in the city of Ixtenco, Mexico. There they encountered Quentin Beck, as he arrived to battle Sandman. Recruiting Spider-Man Talos, disguised as Fury, had Happy Hogan tell Spider-Man he would call, but was left to speed dial by the high schooler. Repeatedly failing to contact Parker, Talos awaited him in his room at the Hotel DeMatteis. Tranquillising Ned Leeds, he tried to explain the situation but was repeatedly interrupted by Parker's classmates at the door which forced them to relocate to his hideout. At the base, Talos introduced Parker to Quentin Beck, who explained the situation. Talos then requested Parker to help in their mission to destroy the Elementals, with the Fire Elemental projected to appear in Prague. Since Parker wanted to continue his vacation, Talos hijacked the travel itinerary of his European tour to change the Paris stop to Prague to "respect" Parker's wishes while ensuring the mission succeeds. At this time, despite Talos being a shapeshifting alien, he did not bat an eye to Beck's story given recent events in the universe; however, to sell his masquerade as Fury, he had to doubt Beck's character to an extent. Additionally, per orders to watch Parker, Talos kept at least one of Fury's people watching him. Prague Attack Talos rerouted Peter Parker's travel group to a rest stop in Austria where his envoy, the Seamstress, would deliver Parker a stealth suit. However, he later learned the incident of Parker's negligence calling for an inadvertent drone strike on his tour bus endangering his friends. The night of Parker's arrival in Prague, he berated the young hero for his negligence in the endangerment his friends. Once Parker left, Quentin Beck followed momentarily. As Parker and his class were seating in the State Opera, Talos called Parker through the latter's earpiece to determine if he was in position. As Parker was attempting to talk his way out of the opera, Talos urged him to move. Once Parker was set in the predicted coordinates of the Molten Man that arose from the ground and began the assault. During the battle where Beck and Parker were struggling to suppress the creature, Talos and Soren in their respective forms raced with their assault teams to reach the duo. They arrived at the climax of the battle, where just as the Molten Man was gaining too much mass, Beck seemingly sacrificed himself to destroy it and emerged victoriously. Maintaining his persona, Talos approached Beck to propose a new super team and to rendezvous in Berlin for talks. While Beck agrees candidly, he approached Parker to reiterate that, but while the young hero was gifted, he needed to find focus in how he used himself. Talos then departed with his team for clean-up and mission report activity, while Beck invited Parker to a pub. Battle of London It was the sudden, and unexpected resurgence of Elemental activity that made Talos call in Quentin Beck to scout the city to report what happened. After Beck departed, Talos received a call from Happy Hogan with a coded message, alerting him of Beck's deception. As the Tempest Elemental attacked Tower Bridge, Beck's report of the matter finally convinced Talos that Beck was lying. Readying for a potential assassination, Soren, under the disguise of Maria Hill, had set up on the roof with a rocket launcher. Upon Spider-Man's victory at exposing the illusion of the drones, including the cloaked drone aimed on Talos at the time, he asked if she had him with Soren replying she did, shooting the drone at once and destroying it. Following Spider-Man's victory, Talos wanted a debrief which was denied by Happy Hogan, as Parker wanted to enjoy what was left of his vacation. Talos chuckled at the response, demanding Hogan ensure some report of how the battle occurred, or there would be consequences. Rendezvous with Nick Fury Following the fight between Beck and Parker, Talos realised just how far he had been deceived. Despite justifying Beck's quality of deception, Soren still compelled him to report to Nick Fury: he completed his mission as Fury to protect Earth in his absence, but failed in his part to protect Parker when Beck leaked doctored footage to The Daily Bugle that exposed Parker's identity and incriminating him for the London event. As Talos called Nick Fury, he confirmed that he had returned custody of E.D.I.T.H. and Tony Stark's Glasses to Peter Parker, but he was hesitant to go into full detail about his blunders with Beck. Nevertheless, he still successfully conveyed the message of requiring Fury's official return from the Skrull ship he was on. While delivering a long message, Fury cut the recording short. Powers and Abilities Powers Skrull Physiology: Unlike the many species on Earth, Talos is a Skrull who is not a carbon-based life-form and possess a wide variety of superhuman abilities. * Shapeshifting: Like the rest of his species, Talos was able to shapeshift into sentient humanoid beings, perfectly matching their height, voice, unique physical characteristics, and even copying their clothing. However, he has to visually perceive the person who is going to be imitated. Talos admitted that this is more of a skill and requires practice, and perhaps some remarkable talent to use. * Memory Replication: Anyone that he replicates, Talos is able to mimic the exact memories of that person, allowing Talos to perfectly imitate the person. However, he can only replicate the person's short-term memory and most recent thoughts, making him unable to use information from years ago. This is how Nick Fury deduced that he was not Keller, as Talos referred to him by his first name, which not even his mother does. * Superhuman Strength: Talos Talos has considerable levels of superhuman strength, was able to overpower Nick Fury easily and toss him around. * Superhuman Durability: The skin, bones, muscles, are denser and tougher than a human being, was able to survive a direct Photon Blast from Carol Danvers. * Superhuman Agility: Talos was able to fight with Carol Danvers and Nick Fury, with both agility and superior reflexes. Abilities * Expert Combatant: Talos is formidable in unarmed combat, capable of fighting skilled combatants such as Carol Danvers, Yon-Rogg, and Nick Fury. * Expert Leader: To be added * Expert Marksman: Talos is a very skilled marksman, capable of using a blaster to take down three Starforce guards with ease. * Expert Tactician: To be added * Voice impersonation: Talos is able to accurately replicate the voice of whoever he is shapeshifting into as a means to further sell the impersonation. Equipment Weapons * Skrull Blaster: Talos carried this as a sidearm, standard to all military personnel in the Skrull Empire. * Skrull Electroshock Baton: During the Ambush on Torfa, after Vers uncovered Talos' disguise as Soh-Larr, Talos used this baton to electrocute her, and take her into Skrull custody. * SIG Sauer P226: The SIG Sauer P226 was the standard pistol issued to S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel in the 1990s. As such, Kellercarried this on his sidearm, and when Talos knocked him out, he took possession of the weapon and used it while hunting downCarol Danvers, and engaged in a duel with Nick Fury over it. Vehicles * Skrulls' Ship: To be added ** Space Pod: To be added * Quadjet: To be added * Mar-Vell's Laboratory: To be added * Talos' Command Ship: To be added * 2019 Audi Q8: To be added Relationships Category:Characters Category:Skrulls Category:Heroes Category:Nick Fury's Crew Members